Spiritual Solutions

You are God’s precious creation. Yet many people have feelings of inferiority, feelings of inadequacy, and a sense of unworthiness. If you have ever had a feeling of inferiority or unworthiness, then let me tell you this, you are not alone. Everyone at some time has these feelings and most persons have this as a plaguing thing that just goes on all the time, a secret fear that people will see what he or she is really like.

There is a need for an attitude of self-appreciation. There is a need for an attitude of self-acceptance, a need to know that you are worthy. It is important to know that if you are worthy to draw breath, you are worthy of the divine flow of life. You are worthy of continuous love. You are worthy of all the forgiveness that life can give.

So, hold your head up high, be open and receptive to the constant flow of God life within you. The divine flow in you is always eager and ready and willing to pour forth in you with the sufficiency of all your needs, and all you have to do is to accept it. You are a child of the Universe, worthy to receive your good.

Many years ago, when I was in the British Royal Navy and serving on a cruiser in the East Indies, as we sailed the Indian Ocean I would look up at the night sky and marvel at the stars which in that deep velvet darkness looked like huge brilliant jewels in the vastness of the Universe.

It’s a sight that has stayed in my mind and prompts me to recall one of the most profound insights of all time that came to the Psalmist:

“When I look at thy heavens, the work of thy fingers, the moon and the stars which thou hast established; what is man that thou art mindful of him, and the son of man that thou dost care for him? Yet thou hast made him little less than God, and dost crown him with glory and honor. Thou hast given him dominion over the works of thy hand; thou hast put all things under his feet.” (Ps. 8:3-6)

Certainly, on the daily, human level, much of this is not true. Some of the time, we are the victim of our circumstances. But there is that of us which is greater than circumstances. There is that in us that stands taller than littleness. There is that which is stronger than our weakness, wiser than our folly, better than our deeds, and holier than our creeds.

The inner world of the self is immeasurable. There is more to you than a body, more than a personality. There is a whole of you that transcends all the parts and cannot be seen by adding them all together. There is always something more. You are better than you think you are!

There is a need for the all-important attitude of faith; faith in yourself, faith in the cosmic flow of life in, through, and as you. Happiness consists in living life from within out, knowing that you are good enough right where you are. You are God’s precious creation!

And remember, God is Blessing You Right Now!

Rev. Alan A. Rowbotham

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Rev. Alan A. Rowbotham, a Unity minister for over thirty-eight years, invites you to subscribe to his free inspirational newsletter, Spiritual Solutions.

Please feel free to publish this article in your blog or newsletter or share it with a friend, as long as you include this resource box.

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You have a healing power deep within your soul!

You are a child of God, a child of the Universe, an individualized expression of the Most High. In God you live and move and have your being; in the Universe you live and move and have your being. God dwells within you; the Universe dwells within you. The whole Universe walks with you; you do not walk the path of your life alone. The Universe is dynamically involved in you; its dynamic flow is always expressing as you. Thus you are always in touch with the flow of healing power.

Once you capture the idea that you are a whole creature, a child of the Universe, the very expression of the Universal stream of life, you will not be satisfied until you find improvement in health. As one example of this dynamic connection, Myrtle Fillmore, co-founder of the Unity movement, after a medical verdict that she only had a few months to live from terminal tuberculosis, got in touch with the flow of healing life and went on to live a full life for more than forty years.

It has been said that God is a circle whose center is everywhere. Know that God is a circle that is centered in you. All the attributes of the Infinite are in focus as you, flowing forth through you. You are in this flow right now. Indeed, you are this flow at the point where you are. Thus you are a child of the Universe, a Son or Daughter of God.

Meditate on this tremendous insight. It means that you are created in the image-likeness of an infinite idea. No matter what other influences may have left their mark on you from the outside, there is that of you that is begotten only of God, which is forever the divine flow from the inside.

You can be healed. You can be healed because you are whole! You have a healing power deep within your soul. Appearances may limit your judgment and your faith but the fundamental Truth remains: you are a child of the Universe, and spiritually you can never be cut off from the stream of life, what Solomon (Song of Sol. 4:15) and Jesus called “living water” and “a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” (John 4:10, 14)

Early in the morning, take a few moments to “wait on the Lord,” to get yourself plugged in as it were. You can even do this while you are still in bed, before you get involved in the day’s activities. The current of life is within you as always, but you need to consciously get your thoughts on the right side. First, focusing in on your breath, affirm for yourself, “With every breath I breathe, I breathe the breath of God, and I am healed.”

Then you can also affirm something like this: “I am in the flow of life itself, and I move easily with the flow. I am free from tension, stress, and strain and I go forward in the flow, unhurried and unworried. I am radiantly and enthusiastically alive.” Finally, affirm, “I am a child of the Universe, established eternally in the healing stream of life. I am strengthened, renewed, restored, and made whole in every way.”

You can be healed! Remember that the healing stream is constant, not present only when you affirm that it is working. The need is not to overcome illness, but simply to open up the way whereby you get into the eternal flow of life. You have a healing power deep within your soul. You have a healing power ready to unfold, right where you are.

Remember, God is Blessing You Right Now!

Rev. Alan A. Rowbotham

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Rev. Alan A. Rowbotham, a Unity minister for over thirty-eight years, invites you to subscribe to his free inspirational newsletter, Spiritual Solutions.

Please feel free to publish this article in your blog or newsletter or share it with a friend, as long as you include this resource box.

If you’d like to receive weekday inspirational quotes, you can subscribe at Rich Words.

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One of the most beautiful thoughts from the writings of the mystic medieval thinkers is the thought of the seventeenth century Carmelite monk, Brother Lawrence, “The Practice of the Presence of God.” But what does it really mean? And where do you practice the presence?

The practice of the presence of God is the consciousness that you live and move and have your being in God. It is taking the time to be still, to turn from the realization of inadequacy, of confusion, of sickness, to turn from the thought of being alone in a heartless universe, to get away from the idea that God is “out there” somewhere; to instead get the realization of your oneness, to know that you exist in God – I am in God, God is in me. Then, there is no separation.

True prayer is the realization that God manifests in you and in me as a presence, and the word “presence” means present here and now. God is always with you!

Practice that presence by turning from the outer sense of separation to an inner realization of oneness, of wholeness. Feel that you are alive and alert in the presence, that you are guided and directed in the presence and that you are free and whole and fulfilled in the presence.

Practicing the presence means to let go of all tendencies to look up or to reach out for something. Just be still and know your oneness. Let yourself feel the activity of this all enveloping presence, this universal essence which we call God that is in you, expressing through you and within you, and which has no other desire for you except to heal and guide you and fulfill you. Just be still and rest in this consciousness. Then you will practice the presence.

The practice of the presence of God is the consciousness that wherever you are, God is; whatever you do, you are in the presence of God. And it is a matter of turning instantly from an experience of conflict, from a momentary sense of insecurity, to a realization of oneness, of wholeness.

Practicing the presence is a beautiful idea, but it is probably like the study of music or any other artistic endeavor – it requires a great deal of practice in terms of the discipline and diligence of experiences of prayer and meditation. To paraphrase Emerson, he says that when you have broken with the God of tradition and destroyed the God of your intellect, then God fires you with His presence. In other words, you must let go of the God of your intellect and of the God of tradition.

Take time in the quiet of your home, perhaps in the early morning hours when you have awakened or the last thing before you go to sleep at night to just get still and feel the sense that you are in the presence, that you are surrounded and enfolded in this consciousness of love and of life and of substance and of intelligence which is God. It is this consciousness that can give one the real sense of preparation for life. It will give you the realization that you can go forth in life without any real concerns or any anxieties, truly confident, truly prepared in every way for all that may come.

Determine that you will no longer practice the absence of God; get the sense that every time you deal with God “out there,” you are practicing the absence of God. Certainly, every time you say as so many people do, “How could God allow this to happen? How could God allow this good person to suffer so?” you are practicing the absence of God. You are thinking of God as something “out there.”

It is important to get the understanding of God as a presence and an activity. God doesn’t will sickness or death or confusion. God is, and as the scriptures say, “Behold, I have loved thee with an everlasting love.” There is a constant support of love and light and guidance forever within you that functions just as constantly as the force of gravity if we allow it, if we work with it, if we practice it.

So take the time right now. Just be still, close your eyes and practice the presence. You don’t have to tell God that you are doing this or what you need – the Father knows what things you have need of even before you ask. God is, and God is an activity in which you live and move and have your being. It is life supporting, loving, healing, harmonizing, ever with and around you, ever expressing as you. Practice it. Be still and know it. The go forth this day knowing that you are in the presence of God, that there is no way that you can be separated and, therefore, you know that this will be a good day.

Remember, God is Blessing You Right Now!

Rev. Alan A. Rowbotham

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Rev. Alan A. Rowbotham, a Unity minister for over thirty-eight years, invites you to subscribe to his free inspirational newsletter, Spiritual Solutions.

Please feel free to publish this article in your blog or newsletter or share it with a friend, as long as you include this resource box.

If you’d like to receive weekday inspirational quotes, you can subscribe at Rich Words.

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Yesterday, when I went for my morning walk as the sun was rising, I became vividly aware of the wet grass shining and sparkling like millions of diamonds as they reflected the light of the sun. And the strong, solid trunks of the trees stood like sentinels over the moment.

I was struck by the beauty of the new day and all its possibilities. The early morning sun seemed to be reflected in the smiles and greetings of the people I met along the way, and as I walked I thought about each new day as being a new dawning in each of our lives.

Are you discouraged? Is your life monotonous and humdrum? If so, you are missing a great deal; let’s do something about it. If you look upon life as a routine experience, then today will probably be just another day to you.

Try greeting the new day with a smile. Let the dawning sun be reflected into the faces and the hearts of those with whom you come in contact.

Someone has said, “Nothing on earth can smile but a human being.”

Wet grass and gems may flash reflected light and catch our awareness, but what is this compared to the flash of the eye? Flowers cannot smile; this is a charm that even the loveliest blossoms cannot claim. It is the prerogative of a human being. Love, cheerfulness, joy, these three are like lights in the window by which the heart signifies it is at home and waiting. A face that cannot smile is like a bud that cannot bloom, that dries up on the stalk.

Consider each dawning of a new day as the beginning of new life for you. Know that not a single self-imposed limitation of yesterday can prevail in your new day. The world is yours. You have power within you to conquer every situation. Everything lies before you. As the Bible says, “I have put all things under your feet.” (Ps. 8:6) You stand right now, this very moment, at the threshold of opportunity.

Believe that each morning heralds a new existence for you. Can you think of yourself as being reincarnated each night, invested with new wisdom and strength, empowered with new might to accomplish whatever you set out to do?

Think of yourself as being brought into a new world with the blessing that everything that happens to you during the day is to contribute to your highest good. Think of yourself as having a charmed life, of bearing within you the essence of divinity, the power to do all things.

Have you wanted to meet new friends? You may have thought yourself weary of your old ones. What could be finer than seeing all friends as new friends? Such they will be when you look upon them with a fresh, understanding gaze.

Possibly, by the time you have gone through this day and night has arrived, you will think you could have improved upon your living of today. If that is the case, remember that tomorrow’s dawning will arrive with another fresh opportunity. Just be sure that you do not condemn yourself for your mistakes or failures of today. At tomorrow’s daybreak, another new life will unfold before you.

Do you not rather like this philosophy of a new world dawning every day? Do you not desire to live for an eternity, in order to see what these worlds have in store for you? This is what is necessary in order to live life to the fullest – you must see life in the right perspective; you must approach each day with an uplifted heart. You may think it looks pretty much the same as it did yesterday, that today presents just as many problems, that things look just as hopeless and discouraging, that today there is no clearer path to better things than there was yesterday. If that is the case, then you need to busy yourself with right thoughts.

Dismiss yesterday in your mind as nothing but an experience that held a helpful lesson. Start today with the idea that today is new, created for your use. Let today appear to you as much finer, a better potential for grating you blessing. Try thinking of today as the very best day of your life. Then, be happy and joyful in it. Set your mind and heart on your ability to take a new hold on life.

Your life is enriched to the extent that you live in the present. The present moment is the only time recognized by the spirit within you and the Creator of the universe. You must grasp opportunities right now. You must take a new hold on yourself now; you must enjoy your present blessings now.

Today is the first day of the rest of your life. Live now, right now. Let this be your new outlook: only the present contains true reality; only the present offers you opportunity. Fill your mind right now, today, with new ideas, ideals, and interests. And remember this: you are greater than any experience that comes to you. You are greater than any circumstance that seems to surround you or fill your life. You have the ability to solve your problem. Live in the world of today.

Remember, God is Blessing You Right Now!

The Rev. Alan A. Rowbotham

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Rev. Alan A. Rowbotham, a Unity minister for over thirty-eight years, invites you to subscribe to his free inspirational newsletter, Spiritual Solutions.

Please feel free to publish this article in your blog or newsletter or share it with a friend, as long as you include this resource box.

If you’d like to receive weekday inspirational quotes, you can subscribe at Rich Words.

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Harry Houdini, a great escape artist in the early part of the twentieth century who claimed he could escape through any locked door of a cell, vault or submerged trunk in three and a half minutes, explained some of his escape methods in his memoirs.

In one very famous incident, he was challenged to get out of a state-of-the-art bank vault in London. All his clothing was checked before he went in the vault. But it was in his contract that any time he was going to do an escape exhibit; he was able to kiss his wife goodbye because he never knew if he was going to get out again. On this particular occasion as he kissed his wife goodbye, his wife passed a little wire from her mouth to his. So when he went down into the bank vault he had a piece of watch spring in his mouth and, when everyone left him to try to get out, he took the watch spring and started to pick the lock on that vault door.

Usually he could hear the clicks as he worked on a lock but this time after working on it for one minute, he didn’t hear any clicks. He was puzzled. He kept trying, but still no clicks and time was passing quickly.

He got to two minutes and thought, “I’m going to fail this; I only have a minute and a half left. All the press is here, it’s the height of my fame and here I am; I haven’t been able to do it yet.” Usually he would do it in half the time.

It got to three minutes and he was no closer. He was sweating profusely, so he reached in his pocket and pulled out a handkerchief to wipe his forehead and attempt to open the lock in the last thirty seconds. As he pulled out the handkerchief, he accidently leaned against the vault door – and it opened! It wasn’t even locked. The people who put him in there had forgotten to lock the door.

But in his mind even though the door was not locked, until he leaned against it by accident, it was locked.

When we are facing obstacles in our lives we are often in that same state of mind; we think we are locked in to a particular state of being. And yet all we have to do is keep moving forward and push on that door, and we find that it wasn’t locked at all.

Freedom is always present, but we have to be willing to push the door; we have to discover that we can move through that obstacle, through that barrier, or under it, or over it, or around it. We have to keep moving forward.

In the year 1985, twenty-five years ago, I became a naturalized citizen of the United States at Monticello, Thomas Jefferson’s home in Virginia.

We drove our car up to Monticello from Roanoke, Virginia, where we lived and worked as ministers of Unity Church of Roanoke Valley. Forty-two members of our church rented a bus to take them to the ceremony; they all had little flags to wave for this very special occasion.

In the process of applying for citizenship, taking the required tests, and then attending the naturalization ceremony, I had some trepidation; I thought after all that preparation I may not get accepted as a citizen because I had lost my green card.

On becoming a naturalized citizen you have to surrender your green card, or alien registration card, before you can become a citizen. I could not find that card anywhere; it was not in my wallet in its usual place, and I scoured the house but couldn’t find it.

I said to Kathryn, “Well, let’s just go anyway. We’ll just go up there and see what happens. They may not take me, but we’ve got to follow through on this process.” So we went up there and there were people from a great many different countries coming into citizenship. Everyone was in line, getting their papers in order. The Daughters of the American Revolution were helping process the people and I saw everyone handing in their green card.

I got up there and the person before me said, “Have you got your green card?” And I responded, “I’m sorry, but I have mislaid it or lost it somewhere.” She said, “Oh! Well, don’t worry about it; if you find it you can send it in to us.” After all that concern it was so easily resolved.

Our fears often keep us from enjoying the freedom that is naturally ours. Things happen, but we need to know that our freedom can never really be taken away from us because the true freedom is within us.

We often think that things have to be let go of in order to have freedom; we can’t have freedom if we have sickness, we can’t have freedom if we’re tied to a certain job, we can’t have freedom if we’re not getting along with our spouse, or whatever it might be. We relate freedom to escape, of escaping from something.

True freedom is not escape; true freedom is finding spiritual resources within ourselves; we can change our attitude, we can change the way we think about something, and then the situation itself can change.

Victor Frankl, the Viennese psychiatrist, talked about his experiences in a Nazi concentration camp. He said it was amazing in these awful and debasing conditions that the people would not surrender in their minds; they were able to think the thoughts that they wanted to think. He said it was amazing, that there were people who were kind to everyone and would give their last crust of bread to someone else, or would share a kind word or a smile, in the midst of those conditions. They determined what they were going to think; they were not going to let circumstances determine what they thought.

We too can recognize that, in any condition, we can choose the thoughts that we think and we can choose the attitudes we have. We don’t have to be controlled by circumstances or by people; we can choose what we want to think.

The freedom is where you are, not somewhere else. There is a freedom that you can have now, and that’s the freedom I believe Jesus was talking about when he said, “If you know the truth, then the truth will make you free.”

You can make your choice of how you will think about a situation, and that choice can be better or bitter; it’s up to you. The gift of choice that each of us has is a great gift of God.

So let’s be creative in thinking about our freedom. Let’s think about it as freedom to be, freedom to draw on those spiritual resources in the midst of whatever we are facing. When you are facing something, don’t try to escape from it, decide to be strong, decide to understand, and decide to find a way that is transcendent. You’ll move right on through the situation; and find yourself free.

Remember, God is Blessing You Right Now!

Rev. Alan A. Rowbotham

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Rev. Alan A. Rowbotham, a Unity minister for over thirty-eight years, invites you to subscribe to his free inspirational newsletter, Spiritual Solutions.

Please feel free to publish this article in your blog or newsletter or share it with a friend, as long as you include this resource box.

If you’d like to receive weekday inspirational quotes, you can subscribe at Rich Words.

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“I have unshakable faith in the perfect outworking of every situation in my life, for God is in absolute control and all things are working together for my highest good.”

This affirmation, coined by my wife Kathryn many years ago, has helped countless people find confidence, hope, and positive outcomes in all kinds of circumstances and situations in their lives. It is my prayer that, if you use it consistently and faithfully and expectantly, you also will experience positive results in your own life.

The former Unity minister and author, Eric Butterworth has said, “This that we call faith has been much misunderstood. The Anglo-Saxon word from which we derive the word ‘faith’ means ‘to live by.’ Faith is not a theory that we hold to, but a power that holds us. It is a level of thinking by which we actually become a part of the all-accomplishing Infinite Mind.”

On this level of thinking, our mental capacity is expanded, somewhat as sunlight unfolds a flower into full bloom: capacities hitherto undreamed of are released, and the way is open to confidence, creativity, and success.

Faith is a willingness to work in the dark, to walk a trail that the heart can see but the eye cannot. It is knowing there is an ocean because you have seen a brook, that there is a Universe because you have seen a star, that there is a Father of all humankind because you have seen a man.

Faith gathers up your life, pulls it together, places foundations under it, indicates horizons around it, and points it toward goals that are definite and worthwhile.

George Santayana gave us these classic words:

“O world, thou chooseth not the better part!

It is not wisdom to be only wise,

And on the inward vision close the eyes;

But it is wisdom to believe the heart.

Columbus found a world, and had no chart

Save one that faith deciphered in the skies;

To trust the soul’s invincible surmise

Was all his science and his only art.

Our knowledge is a torch of smoky pine

That lights the pathway to but one step ahead,

Across a void of mystery and dread.

Bid, then, the tender light of faith to shine

By which alone that mortal heart is led

Unto the thinking of the thought divine.”

Faith is the acceptance of the greatness of God. We do not make God great by our faith in Him, but we become great by accepting God’s cosmic greatness, by lifting ourselves to a level of consciousness of thinking in which we act from strength instead of weakness, in which we see possibilities instead of problems.

Have you ever wondered what your life would be like if everything you tried or reached for turned out in fulfillment of your expectations? It would be a little different from the way it is now, since most of us expect so little! Most of us go through life holding a small tin cup into the Niagara of God’s plenty.

Our faith is generally shakable and most often decidedly shaky. We prepare for problems and are rarely disappointed. We are in tune with the indefinite instead of the Infinite; we are practicing the absence, instead of the presence, of God.

It is human and normal to have doubts, to question, to not always understand why something has happened or is happening. There will appear to be limits: You are too old or too young; there is too little time, not enough money, and so forth.

The world will always give you tuition, but you must take time to cultivate “in-tuition.” Jesus said, “In the world you have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.” Unshakable faith is a perception that is born of intuition; intuition will always reveal a way, a means, and a magical solution to the seemingly impossible.

“Fact thinking” may reveal many closed doors, but “unshakable faith thinking” shows us where the keys are. Fact thinking reveals empty vessels; unshakable faith thinking reveals upturned receptacles waiting to be filled by divine action.

You can create a vacuum for the Spirit to rush in; create a receptacle. Reach inward to the desire in your heart; form a picture of it in your mind, a picture not of emptiness but of possibility. It will be an attracting force to draw your desire to you. See it as accomplished. Believe, and let that believing consciousness go out ahead of you to lead the way.

Amazing things will happen, whether or not a “miracle” takes place in terms of an immediate demonstration. The important thing is that you will be different. You will see differently. Something will unfold in your life, making the whole process of faith a reality to you.

As George Santayana wrote, “. . . the thinking of the thought divine.” Let this unshakable faith consciousness become a whole way of thinking. This kind of faith thinking will lead you into the greatness of life that you envision for yourself and that you can live by.

Affirm for yourself, “I have unshakable faith in the perfect outworking of every situation in my life, for God is in absolute control and all things are working together for my highest good.”

Remember, God is Blessing You Right Now!

Rev. Alan A. Rowbotham

—————————————————–             

Rev. Alan A. Rowbotham, a Unity minister for over thirty-eight years, invites you to subscribe to his free inspirational newsletter, Spiritual Solutions.

Please feel free to publish this article in your blog or newsletter or share it with a friend, as long as you include this resource box.

If you’d like to receive weekday inspirational quotes, you can subscribe at Rich Words.

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The slow-burning anger, frustration, annoyance, exasperation, resentment and irritation that we frequently experience toward others is one of the most troublesome and common personal problems to be met and handled in our fast-moving and complicated modern life. Understand that we are all human; certain things and certain people get to us at times.

But let me ask you, “Who is it in your life that irritates you most? Who do you resent the most?” Before you come to a conclusion you had better look in a mirror, because basically we all are our own worst enemies, our own worst problems. After a lifetime of meeting and working with all sorts of people, Dwight L. Moody said, “In all my years the one person I have had the most trouble with is Dwight L. Moody.” That could well be said of each of us. So, it is in the conquest of self that we can conquer irritation and resentment.

In a recent Daily Word message, it points out that accumulating resentments is like picking up rocks and putting them in our pocket and if we collect rocks and hold on to them day after day and month after month, we feel the burden grow. When we refuse to let resentments go, we are weighed down by the hurt and anger we carry.

When things disturb us it is because we have vested these things, or persons, with the power to do so. Nothing by itself could have this power. When we seem irritable and vulnerable, it is because we are putting forward the wrong side of our nature; as it is often described we “got up on the wrong side of the bed.” Jesus put it this way, “If any one strikes you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also.” Though this advice is not easy for everyone to follow, it is a tremendous, never-fail formula for overcoming irritation and resentment.

We each have two levels of consciousness, the human and the divine. When we are feeling irritable or resentful it is because we are meeting life from a very human level with a very low vibration. We must turn the other cheek, as it were, to the other side of our nature, the divine side, where we can be non-resistant, loving and forgiving.

You can meet life as a sponge or as a light. Don’t be a sponge, soaking up all the mishaps and annoyances. Remember that life is lived from inside out; let your light shine and deal with the day’s happenings from the diviner side of your nature. You can bring to each day an attitude that is positive and constructive and it will attract to you more desirable happenings and experiences with those around you. Develop the knack of being dispassionate and objective so that when someone affronts you, you will say to yourself, “What emotional conflict does he have? What trouble is in her life? This is better than reacting with “Why did he do that to me?” Cut off the “to me” and wonder instead, “Why did she do that?” Be a mental blessing to your offender in this manner.

In Luke 21:19 we read, “By your endurance you will gain your lives.” Another translation reads, “In your patience you possess your soul.”

Be sure that you possess your soul and make sure you are not possessed by a host of petty shortcomings and aggravations in the world around you. Jesus said, “Enter into the inner chamber and close the door.” Take time occasionally to go into that inner place to find that source of peace unreachable by the temporal problems of the world.

Another great teaching of the Bible, found in Romans 12:21, says, “Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.” If there is something that seems to be rubbing you the wrong way, cover it with the power of love and understanding. No matter what the other person does, enfold him or her in your blessing. There’s tremendous power in doing this, if, of course, you are sincere. Look beyond appearances to the diviner level of people’s nature and relate to it.

If you cannot bring yourself to forgive and lovingly permit an impersonal view of irritating people and matters, then face it; there is work to be done with yourself. You are irritated because you are irritable. So turn the other cheek; get into the other state of consciousness. Say to yourself, “Father, forgive me for expecting in the human that which is found only in the divine.”

Then let your light shine consistently, turning the other cheek when feeling offense; maintain an objective attitude toward people and things and seek to help them rather than taking their annoyances personally. In this way you possess your own soul and will be filled with tranquility, equanimity, and imperturbability, an attitude of mind that all the great of the world have developed. We can all work toward that development in ourselves.

God is Blessing You, Right Now!

Rev. Alan A. Rowbotham

—————————————————–             

Rev. Alan A. Rowbotham, a Unity minister for over thirty-eight years, invites you to subscribe to his free inspirational newsletter, Spiritual Solutions.

Please feel free to publish this article in your blog or newsletter or share it with a friend, as long as you include this resource box.

If you’d like to receive weekday inspirational quotes, you can subscribe at Rich Words.

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When I was in ministerial school at Unity Village many years ago, a Unity minister from Germany, Peter Wenzel, told me a story of when he was a member of the West Berlin police force. That was way back, before the Berlin Wall, when there was a demilitarized zone between East and West Berlin.

One of Peter’s responsibilities was to patrol the demilitarized zone; and it was common knowledge that if someone got too far into the East Berlin side of the demilitarized zone they were subject to being shot. One day Peter found himself in that area by himself and, all of a sudden, he was confronted by a Russian soldier with a rifle pointed right at him.

Peter, remembering that moment said, “All of a sudden I felt the presence of God with me; I looked at the other soldier and I saw that he was about my own age, a very young man. I looked in his eyes and without realizing what I was saying I said, ‘You cannot shoot me; I am your brother.’ And the man put down his gun, turned and walked away.”

How wonderful to recognize that core of oneness and know that we are, indeed, all brothers and sisters. It’s when we focus on our differences that we sometimes get into conflict and into wars.

Myrtle Fillmore, co-founder of Unity, said, “Nations will forget to fight as long as we continue to remember that we’re all expressing the one life.” We’ll forget to fight one another. So we must come to that realization of oneness and connectedness.

We most often see ourselves as separate. We are separate in expression, but we are all connected at a level we call the “Christ” level. When we come to the level of the presence of God in us it is the same God, it is the same presence, and it is the same power – the one presence and one power active in and through our lives, God, the good.

That is our level of connectedness, the Christ within us.

To give you an illustration, if you think of the Hawaiian Islands you see that there are many islands and they are not connected on the surface. But if you were able to go below the surface, you would see that under the surface all of the islands are connected. They are all joined together.

Author Paul Tillich called that connectedness in us “the ground of our being.” From his book, The Shaking of the Foundations, we read, “The name of the infinite and inexhaustible depth and ground of all being is God. That depth is what the word means and, if that word has meaning for you, translate it and speak of the depths of your life, of the source of your being, of your ultimate concern, of what you take seriously without reservation. For if you know that God means depth, then you know much about Him. He or she who knows about depth, knows about God.”

So depth is what we are seeking, a deeper understanding of ourselves. As we move deeper within ourselves, we also understand God in a greater way.

It was the poet Tennyson who said, “God is closer than breathing, closer than hands and feet.” God is as close to you as that. And that’s what we have to know, that there is no separation; we are one in God.

The apostle Paul talked about that also. We read I Corinthians 12: “For just as the body is one and has many members and all the members of the body though many are one body, so it is with Christ. For by one spirit we were all baptized into one body: Jews or Greeks, slaves or free, and all were made to drink of one Spirit. Now you are the body of Christ and, individually, members of it.”

Sometimes we forget that we were made in the image and likeness of God; sometimes we forget that we are spiritual beings having a human experience.  We forget our connectedness. But the more we can remember our connectedness with God and with one another, the more individually and uniquely we can express the truth of our own being.

When we come from that deeper level of our life we will truly be ourselves. Charles Fillmore said, “The journey of life for each of us should be a journey of jubilance.” We should be enjoying life; it should be an expression of the highest and best of us.

We have to begin to be friendly toward ourselves because there is more to us than we have understood. It was Walt Whitman who said, “I have found that I am not only that which is between my hat and my boots.”

There is so much more to us. You are a living expression of the Most High God. You are like one of those islands that have popped up in the universe, just as the islands of Hawaii popped up in the Pacific Ocean. The universe needs you; the universe would not be complete without you. Literally, the universe is not complete without you.

We need to treat ourselves kindly. In fact, we need to celebrate ourselves; we need to validate ourselves as someone worthwhile.

As we begin to celebrate ourselves we are then able to celebrate others too, we’re able to recognize the truth of them, and we’re able to recognize the Christ within them. If we see the Christ in them, we will treat them as a Christlike being; we will treat them as a worthy person.

In the play, Pygmalion, Eliza Doolittle is talking about Professor Higgins. She says, “Anybody can do the simple things like learning how to dress properly and learning how to speak properly, but the way a person behaves is not what determines whether she is a lady or a flower-girl. It’s how she’s treated that determines whether she’s a lady or a flower-girl. Professor Higgins always thinks of me as a flower-girl, and to him I’ll always be a flower-girl. But you, you treat me like a lady and for you I can always be a lady.”

How we see a person is how we treat a person. If we see a person as stupid, then we’ll treat them as being stupid. If we see a person as being a loser, then we treat that person as being a loser. So we need to begin to look at people in a kindly way, as we would also hope to look at ourselves.

In the fairy stories, we find there’s very often a kindly act where the princess kisses a frog and the frog becomes a prince. Well, all of us feel like a frog sometimes and we all need a person to come along and affirm us as a worthy being. You are that other person; you can affirm the truth about other people.

So I invite you today and this week to do some frog-kissing. When you notice that someone is feeling low and unsure of themselves, give them a hug, give them a blessing, and give them a kiss. Do some frog-kissing; recognize the truth of them. And the truth is that they are one with you.

It was Walt Whitman who said, “In all men I see myself, not one barleycorn more and not one barleycorn less, and the good or bad I say of them I say of myself.” So when we celebrate with someone else, we are celebrating ourselves also.

Remember these words of Jesus: “If you did it to the least of these, my brethren, you also do it unto me.” In other words, he was saying we are connected; we are one with one another. Let us recognize the truth of that and celebrate the Christ within, celebrate our God-connectedness, and celebrate our oneness.

Remember, God is Blessing You, Right Now!

Rev. Alan A. Rowbotham

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 Rev. Alan A. Rowbotham, a Unity minister for over thirty-eight years, invites you to subscribe to his free inspirational newsletter, Spiritual Solutions.

Please feel free to publish this article in your blog or newsletter or share it with a friend, as long as you include this resource box.

If you’d like to receive weekday inspirational quotes, you can subscribe at Rich Words.

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Listening to God is an important part of our spiritual practice, as is also the practice of really listening to others even beyond what they may be saying in words so that we can hear what they are not saying. Thinking about this led me to share with you today’s message:

A dear friend of ours, Charlie Finn, whom Kathryn and I knew in Roanoke, Virginia, when we had our ministry there, wrote a poem in 1966 just after he started teaching a boys’ high school class. He shared the poem with some of the students, close friends and family members. He never put his name on it, and, as the years went by, the poem kept coming back to him from other directions with the word “Anonymous” on it or “Author Unknown.” From 1968 to the present time it has been published in dozens of publications, it’s been recorded on record albums, and it’s been used in seminars and workshops. In fact, Charlie told of a time when he was attending a seminar on Humanistic Psychology and the first thing the person presenting did was to read his poem.

Charlie remarked how awesome it was to him that this poem had reached so many people, and it struck him not only with pride but with awe that he had been able to reach within himself and find some meaning that also touched the hearts and minds of other people. Here’s the poem:

 Please Hear What I’m Not Saying

                Don’t be fooled by me.

               Don’t be fooled by the face I wear

               for I wear a mask, a thousand masks,

               masks that I’m afraid to take off,

               and none of them is me.

               Pretending is an art that’s second nature with me,

               but don’t be fooled,

               for God’s sake don’t be fooled.

               I give you the impression that I’m secure,

               that all is sunny and unruffled with me, within as well

                    as without,

               that confidence is my name and coolness my game,

               that the water’s calm and I’m in command

               and that I need no one,

               but don’t believe me.

               My surface may seem smooth but my surface is my mask,

               ever-varying and ever-concealing.

               Beneath lies no complacence.

               Beneath lies confusion, and fear, and aloneness.

               But I hide this.  I don’t want anybody to know it.

               I panic at the thought of my weakness exposed.

               That’s why I frantically create a mask to hide behind,

               a nonchalant sophisticated facade,

               to help me pretend,

               to shield me from the glance that knows.

               But such a glance is precisely my salvation, my only hope,

               and I know it.

               That is, if it’s followed by acceptance,

               if it’s followed by love.

               It’s the only thing that can liberate me from myself,

               from my own self-built prison walls,

               from the barriers I so painstakingly erect.

               It’s the only thing that will assure me

               of what I can’t assure myself,

               that I’m really worth something.

               But I don’t tell you this.  I don’t dare to, I’m afraid to.

               I’m afraid your glance will not be followed by acceptance,

               will not be followed by love.

               I’m afraid you’ll think less of me,

               that you’ll laugh, and your laugh would kill me.

               I’m afraid that deep-down I’m nothing

               and that you will see this and reject me.

               So I play my game, my desperate pretending game,

               with a facade of assurance without

               and a trembling child within.

               So begins the glittering but empty parade of masks,

               and my life becomes a front.

                I idly chatter to you in the suave tones of surface talk.

               I tell you everything that’s really nothing,

               and nothing of what’s everything,

               of what’s crying within me.

               So when I’m going through my routine

               do not be fooled by what I’m saying.

               Please listen carefully and try to hear what I’m not saying,

               what I’d like to be able to say,

               what for survival I need to say,

               but what I can’t say.

               I don’t like hiding.

               I don’t like playing superficial phony games.

               I want to stop playing them.

               I want to be genuine and spontaneous and me

               but you’ve got to help me.

               You’ve got to hold out your hand

               even when that’s the last thing I seem to want.

               Only you can wipe away from my eyes

               the blank stare of the breathing dead.

               Only you can call me into aliveness.

               Each time you’re kind, and gentle, and encouraging,

               each time you try to understand because you really care,

               my heart begins to grow wings–

               very small wings,

               very feeble wings,

               but wings!

               With your power to touch me into feeling

               you can breathe life into me.

               I want you to know that.

               I want you to know how important you are to me,

               how you can be a creator–an honest-to-God creator–

               of the person that is me

               if you choose to.

               You alone can break down the wall behind which I tremble,

               you alone can remove my mask,

               you alone can release me from my shadow-world of panic,

               from my lonely prison,

               if you choose to.

               Please choose to.

               Do not pass me by.

               It will not be easy for you.

               A long conviction of worthlessness builds strong walls.

               The nearer you approach to me

               the blinder I may strike back.

               It’s irrational, but despite what the books say about man

               often I am irrational.

               I fight against the very thing I cry out for.

               But I am told that love is stronger than strong walls

               and in this lies my hope.

               Please try to beat down those walls

               with firm hands but with gentle hands

               for a child is very sensitive.

               Who am I, you may wonder?

               I am someone you know very well.

               For I am every man you meet

               and I am every woman you meet.

                                                                     Charles C. Finn

                                                                     September 1966

God is Blessing You, Right Now!

Rev. Alan A. Rowbotham

—————————————————–             

 Rev. Alan A. Rowbotham, a Unity minister for over thirty-eight years, invites you to subscribe to his free inspirational newsletter, Spiritual Solutions.

Please feel free to publish this article in your blog or newsletter or share it with a friend, as long as you include this resource box.

 If you’d like to receive weekday inspirational quotes, you can subscribe at Rich Words.

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